Oops my bad. Just further shows how insane Stone'a first year went people who say he hasnt done anything just have 0 clue what is going on.
The main problem with Daryl Morey is that he is too full of himself. Remember when he said I want Golden State. Well the League didn't like that and had referees rigging games. Also the Spurs Goaltend Game on which Harden Dunked and the ball went in again and they didn't count it. Daryl Morey sent a report to NBA office that Older Referees Miss more calls than Younger Referees. The Referees of course gave next to no calls against the Rockets team, Harden got hacked relentlessly, Many Rockets got injured the rest of the season. Playoffs as usual Harden flames out.
Believe me I've been paying very close attention. I just don't believe in the premature praise before these guys have proven that they can be special. We could be looking back in 6-8 years and none of the players you listed, Green included, turn into impact players. Half the guys you mentioned haven't played a single NBA game and could be out of the league in two years, we don't know, nobody knows. It's very easy and lazy to just assume that every single player he's picked up is amazing and is going to work out. I'm not being pessimistic, but y'all need to realize that it is not a foregone conclusion that this rebuild has been successful. Nothing has been proven. It's possible that we win less than 35 games for the next 8 years, and if that does happen, then the opinion of Stone should not be positive.
I'm shocked at the results. Especially considering tanking wasn't even the plan last year when the season began. But I will say, I'm more than happy with how Stone recovered. There's a lot of work to be done yet though...
I like both. But I think it's way, way too early to crown Stone with anything. He's accumulated a bunch of young players who had the worst record in the league last year. Yes, many of these players are interesting, but let's not talk about him like he has assembled the next dynasty - odds are most of them are gone in the next 2-3 years.
Bingo! Green = 0 mins 0 pts 0 contributions so far. Sengun =0 mins 0 pts 0 contributions so far KPJ has 1 50pt game and everyone thinks he is James Harden's instant replacement. Christian Wood- still needs to prove he can stay healthy KmArt and tate are good but they aren't anything I'd say are successful. Just decent pick ups for the worst team in the league. Let's see where Stone's rabbit hole goes first... Let's see if Green is not just going to be good but will improve enough to be one of the greats or greatest. Nothing is deserved or given in life, it is earned!
The Ringer Mismatch had a segment on Stone and the Harden trade in their mailbag. Some Rockets fan asked if the media would now apologize to Stone for criticizing him about not taking the Simmons deal. Vernò refused, saying rightfully that (1) the Jalen Green pick was not in the deal, (2) you can’t praise a GM for a sucky team and (3) what if the pick went to OKC, why praise Stone for being lucky… This is such a misunderstood trade from both sides. Stone fans are looking at Jalen Green and saying, see our guy is a genius. That’s wrong as Verno’s points are valid, having worst record + some luck is not an accomplishment. However, Stone critics are also wrong saying he only got draft picks and bought himself time and job security until 2027… Stone got Victor Oladipo, a recent 2x All-Star, and he even offered him an extension. Stone wanted to compete, he said so plainly, and the team was competitive for a short stretch before the Wood re-injury. Proper way to look at the trade is this: Stone DID chose the path of getting a good player and competing, but bad luck with injuries derailed it. As a silver lining, he got lucky that Oladipo turned down the extension and that Rockets had luck in the lottery. If you want to be fair, the question you need to ask is: is healthy Oladipo+picks better than Simmons+picks. My view is: YES, peak Indiana Dipo is WAY better than Simmons + picks (or LaVert for that matter). So I give him credit for not falling for the Simmons bait and banking on the reasonable expectation that Oladipo would get back to his All-Star form. It didn’t work, but was a good bet. I am not giving him credit for Jalen Green. I think this is the fair way to evaluate Stone’s most important transaction so far. But everyone is just yelling their talking points, without thinking and without even taking into account what really happened.
I enjoy Stone more than Morey. I like Stones’s style and daily operations more. Stone is very much a behind the scenes type. Morey was entertaining and took the spotlight from the players snd owner which worked with the personalities that where here at time. Write or wrong, DM pissed a lot of people off at the expense of those around him. Unfortunately others took the repercussions his actions.
yeah sure Morey “stole” Harden from okc! But there was no ring to show for and a bitter ending! So either Harden wasn’t that good which makes Moreys move overrated or Morey peaked with that move and couldn’t surround Harden with good enough talent (I’m looking at you Ryan Anderson contract) which also makes Morey overrated.
Morey took the spotlight solely for self-promotion. As a GM he is OK, maybe average maybe slightly above average. What I hate about him is that he is a self-promoting charlatan, who pandered to media, (mostly the new media of nerdy white blog-boys who have never played the game and don’t have a clue), and tricked a lot of people that he has some unique insights based on some cryptic junk-science. Reality is, his “algorithms” never gave him an edge. But he did have some hits through old-fashioned hustling and being opportunistic. Also he had some success in drafting several players with higher value than their pick number in the #20-60mrange. Aaron Brooks, Capella, Chandler Parsons, Carl Landry, Montrez… No All Stars, though. No Jokic, Middleton, Draymond, etc. That’s fine. Your chance of getting an All-Star after pick #20 is ~1.5%, so no miracles. His draft record in the teens is abysmal, with several players value way below their pick number: Royce White, Sam Dekker. Your chances of drafting an All-Star in #11-19 is ~10% so his performance was below average in that range. Then you have the case of Marcus Morris Sr., whom he drafted just above two All-Stars (Kawhi and Vucevic). Morris is OK player, but Morey gave him away a year and half later for a late 2nd rounder. So not only he didn’t draft the right player, but his manic wheeling and dealing prevented the team from getting any production from a decent player. The best Morey deal was getting Lowry for Rafer Alston, that was a great hustle and taking advantage of the opportunity, as Lowry was disgruntled because MEM drafted Mike Conley. But again his trading mania prevented us from getting max value: he traded Lowry for the Steve Adam’s pick just before Kyle’s prime.
So if thats how you view things how come you put Morey on a pedestal then? Morey hasnt been successful, he was brought in to win a ring and didnt win 1 in the decade he has been here. Didnt even go to 1 Finals appearance. You can argue he brought in Harden, Dwight, Cp3 and WB but none of those guys won a ring either. 0% wr for his tenure. If having special players doesnt result in anything then whats the point of getting special players? So thats my issue with Morey you look at the context of his circumstance when judging his performance. But for Stone you need to wait till those players win a ring? Cmon man. You can judge these guys based on what we know now. When Morey got Cp3 did he know Cp3 would tear his hamstring and then play like crap the following year? The same thing is true with Stone who knows if Green gets in an accident tom and gets his right leg amputated. These guys arent omniscient but based on what we know NOW Stone has done a fantastic job. We can only judge these guys in the moment and the context of their circumstance.
good post btw this is also why you never tank(except as a money grabber)...you are never guaranteed nothing and have to earn it all on the court take philly for example they won countless championships in their heads with embiied simmons fultz okafor etc when in fact they achieved nothing in the real life
yep but this is the kind of thinking you need to apply when calling for the tank: banchero 0 mins 0 pts 0 contributions so far chat holmgren 0............0.....................0................ insert next overhyped name........... 0.....championships so far
